However...
This post is not about Business Boutique.
Instead, it is about the book Love Your Life, Not Theirs by Rachel Cruze. I had never heard of Cruze until Business Boutique, but I was already familiar with her father, Dave Ramsey. My friend mentioned that she had picked up a new book, Smart Money, Smart Kids, by Dave Ramsey and his daughter, the aforementioned Rachel Cruze, and let me have a look at it. The book looked fantastic and I decided to buy a copy myself.
Surprise, surprise! Smart Money, Smart Kids came with a bunch of bonuses, mostly centered around Rachel Cruze's new book, Love Your Life, Not Theirs. The bonuses included a hardcopy of the book, an audio copy, an emailed link to a video of a related talk, and more. The book wasn't actually out yet, and copies were finally mailed out in October. I started reading my copy as soon as I received it.
And, what did I think?
Well, I'm not totally in love with the book, but I do think it's worth reading.
First, the ONE thing I didn't particularly enjoy:
Cruze's age and the extent of her life experience really shows--at times, the book and her perspective seem a bit out of touch with the realities of a large portion of the population. There were many sections that I just couldn't relate to and many sections where I felt like Cruze has lived a bit of a charmed, sheltered life and hasn't had to face some of the very real hardships many people face every day. I don't fault her for this--I'm glad for her!--but it made it hard to take her advice seriously on occasion. It read like advice you would give to someone much younger than yourself and with a lot less worldly experience and far fewer life problems and issues. The book also mentioned but glossed over issues relevant to single adults and single parents.
Secondly, the things I did like:
I was expecting Love Your Life, Not Theirs to be much more religious in nature. I am not religious myself. It was a pleasant surprise to find religion only touched on here and there--and not very often. It was easy to look past those passages.
Love Their Life, Not Theirs was incredibly easy to read and did not come across as preaching, condescending or adamant that you have to do things Rachel's way or Dave Ramsey's way (although if you watch Dave's videos, you'll know he is a "My way or the highway" kind of guy).
I also really liked how Cruze explained mortgages and her thoughts on home buying. I mean, honestly, how confusing is the whole process? She breaks down the process into manageable, bite sized bits of information and uses vocabulary and terms that are easy to understand. Honestly, she changed the way I have been thinking about mortgages and home buying...I'm a long ways away from being ready to buy a house, but I feel a lot better about it and like I have a plan in place for when the time comes.
Rachel's advice is down to earth and her tone and style are friendly and supportive. Life has been chaotic for me lately, and I've needed light and easy. Love Their Life, Not Theirs was exactly the reading level, speed, and mix of information and support that I needed. It was also a good reminder that it's ok to slow down, to say "No thank you" to invitations or other potential financial quagmires, and so on. Cruze's book did a good job of helping me be ok with NOT keeping up with the Joneses.
The take aways? It's ok to...
- Say NO.
- Be ok with what you ALREADY have.
- Be content with your present situation, knowing things can be better in future.
- Enjoy your life NOW, even if you don't have all the *things* you want.
- Recognize that the Jones's are likely going deeper and deeper into debt...eventually you'll be living far better; you just have to be patient and put in a little work.
- Be weird and NOT have debt.
- Delay gratification, knowing you can have bigger and better later if you put in the hard work of being financially responsible now.
I'll be reviewing Smart Money, Smart Kids in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
This post contains affiliate links.
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